Teesside Vape on Bishopton Lane, Stockton, has been closed for three months after a stash was uncovered in a hidden room
A three-month closure order was secured on the shop(Image: Stockton Council)
A Stockton shop flogging illegal cigarettes for a fiver a packet and where tobacco was passed to staff through a ceiling tile has been shut. Complaints had been made about illicit tobacco sales at Teesside Vape on Bishopton Lane and the shop selling vapes to underage customers.
In a hidden room, 8,840 illegal cigarettes and 36 pouches of illicit tobacco were discovered. Tobacco was also being passed to staff through a ceiling tile from a raised platform.
Trading standards officers, with support from Cleveland Police, a tobacco detection dog and handler, seized the illegal goods. On a second visit, a further 2,260 cigarettes and 11 pouches of tobacco were found inside a cardboard box under a coat in another room away from the shop floor.
The illicit cigarettes were being sold for £5 a pack, well below the usual market price while a vape was also purchased during an underage sales test purchase.
Test purchases carried out by the trading standards team showed the cigarettes failed to comply with packaging regulations. They also did not bear the combined health warning in accordance with legal requirements.
Stockton Council secured a three-month closure order on the shop at a Teesside Magistrates’ Court hearing on Thursday, May 21. Cllr Norma Stephenson, the council’s Cabinet member for access, communities and community safety, said: “Well done to the trading standards team for their perseverance in securing this closure order.
“Also a big thanks to our partners from Cleveland Police in assisting us for this closure order. It is another strong message to businesses who think that they can break their legal obligations and get away with it, that we will always find a way to ensure they face the consequences.
“I’d also like to encourage local people to keep reporting any sales of illicit or counterfeit tobacco and single use vapes to us, so we can take the necessary action.”
The work was carried out as part of Operation Cece, which is run in partnership with National Trading Standards and HMRC. Inspector Andy Vickers, of Stockton ‘s neighbourhood policing team, said: “Illicit cigarettes and tobacco products are often associated with other types of crime, so it’s good news that this shop has now been closed.
“Working alongside partners and listening to members of the public has enabled us to act upon the information and reports we have received on the activity in this shop. We would encourage people to continue reporting such activity to us.”
Anyone with information about the sale of illegal cigarettes and vapes can contact the council’s trading standards team by calling 01642 526560, emailing trading.standards@stockton.gov.uk or visiting the Keep it Out reporting website .
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